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Part 2 Section 9 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 covers the election of strata committee members if the number of people nominated are less than the number of members that has been determined will be on the committee. If more people have nominated than are permitted on the committee, the vote is to go to a ballot.
Part 2 Section 10 covers how the ballot is to run: each voter is given a blank ballot paper and writes down the names of the people they prefer to be on the committee. The chair of the AGM then counts the votes, and it seems like a first past the post system operates whereby the person whose name is on the most papers is elected first, then the person whose name is on the second most papers is elected first and so on until the full number of committee members are elected.
Part 3 Section 14 (3) states that any person present and entitle to vote can call for a poll vote, where votes are valued according the number of unit entitlements held.
My question is – can a poll vote be called to elect the strata committee?
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Yes
A poll vote can be called at any time before or after a show of hands and applies to elections too.
In practice, the votes cast by normal means would have a UE value applied to them. A smart strata committee would have prepared for this and created some sort of spreadsheet, just in case a poll vote was called for.
By the way, I am intrigued by the references below to office-bearer being elected by poll votes. I thought office-bearers were elected by the committee after the y have been elected. I will look into this.
This is what section 14 of Schedule 1 of the Act says:
14 DECISIONS AT MEETINGS
(1) Simple majority vote to generally apply
A motion put to a meeting, or an election of officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee, is to be decided according to a majority in number of the votes cast for and against the motion with each person having one vote for each lot in respect of which the person is entitled to vote.(2) Vote of original owner who owns more than half of lots to be reduced
For the purposes of determining an election for officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee or appointing a strata managing agent (other than in the case of a poll ), if the total unit entitlementof lots of the original owner is not less than half of the aggregate unit entitlement, the value of the vote in respect of the lots held by the original owner is taken to be reduced by two-thirds (ignoring any fraction).(3) Value of votes to apply for poll
If a poll is demanded by a person present and entitled to vote on a motion or for the election of officers of the owners corporation or members of the strata committee at the meeting, the motion is to be decided according to the value of the votes cast for and against the motion and the value of a vote cast by a person entitled to vote in respect of a lot is equal to the unit entitlement of that lot. However, the value of the vote of an original owner is to be calculated in the same way as for a special resolution.Note : Section 5 sets out the manner in which a special resolution is determined.
(4) Polls
A poll may be demanded immediately before or after a vote decided by a majority in number has been taken. The demand for a poll may be withdrawn by the person who made it.The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Yes Jimmy, very interesting. Sect 41 of the Act uses the word ‘appoint’ with regards to officers, not the word ‘elect’
Part 2, Clause 11, Sub-clause 6 of the legislation says
(6) If a ballot for the election of a person as chairperson, secretary or treasurer of the committee is required, the election is to be conducted by a show of hands of persons at the meeting.
This is distinct from election to the sc itself.
Also interesting that Sect 41, subclause 2 of the Act states
(2) The chairperson, secretary and treasurer of the strata committee are also, respectively, the chairperson, secretary and treasurer of the owners corporation.
That is, you don’t vote for these positions for the OC, it is an automatic by-product of being elected too the position on the SC
The position in QLD is that the Body Corporate (i.e. the OC) elects each person for each committee position. A person may nominate them self for a position, or be nominated by another owner. This occurs at an AGM.
A committee in QLD does not have the power to appoint a Chairperson, a Treasurer or a Secretary from within their cohort – only the Body corporate has this power.
It appears that NSW has this option too, should a scheme wish to adopt this method of selecting committee members.
The QLD system works well.
The wording of section 41 conflicts with itself, subsections (1) and (3) use the word “appoint”, subsection (4) refers to “election”. There are a few mistakes/holes in the legislation, think this is one of them.
As a general governance issue, the constitutions of companies generally provide that the Chair of the Board is elected/chosen by the Board. While the process for determining who is on the Board will vary depending on the type of company, ranging from publicly listed companies to companies limited by guarantee, this reflects the general principle that the Directors are best placed to determine who amongst them should hold office. Bear in mind that the Chair of the Strata Committee does not have any additional powers other than chairing meetings, despite what people might think (including megalomaniac Chairs).
It’s slightly different for incorporated associations where generally the members elect the President of the Management Committee. You also see that with some companies limited by guarantee of a particular type, such as medical associations.
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